Refillable pencil



s. STEUER REFILLABLE PENCIL Filed Nov. 15, 1935 April 21, 1936.

named Apr. 21, 193e UNITEDsrATEs,

REFILLABLE rENcn.

Stefan Steuer, BohnLLBndweis, Czechoslovakia,

*assignor to firm ofYKoh-inoor Bleistii'tiabriir L. if` C., Hardtmuth,ohm.udweis, Czeelarni 1 Slovakia e Applicationnvember 13,1935, serialN01. 49,587 y In Czechoslovakia Decemberzi, 1933 Y s canne (01.120422) yf This invention relates to rellable pencils in which the point, sectionof the pencil is movable longitudinally inrelation to the main portionor stem ofthe same', the leady passing with friction 5 through thepencil lpoint and being merelyheld in place by a clamping device but notpropelled. According to the invention, in order that the 'length of leadexposed for writing purposes may always be keptY constant, the clampingdevice is l l located in the immediate vicinity of the bore of thepencil point and the point section is drawn up, together with.' thelsaid clamping device in such a way as to assist the clampingaction ofthe latter.

l Refillable pencils are'already .known'whichhave a longitudinallymovable point section and 4a. clamping device, which serves only to holdthe lead in, place but lin these known pencils the* clamping device isarranged insuch. away as to leave room for freely movable leads betweensuch device and the bore of the pencil point,

the latter carryingsuch leads with it whenjit moves` downwards. Incontradistinction hereto, in the pencil of the present invention, theclamping devicel isintentionally brought so close to the.

bore of the pencil point that-there kare no freely movable leads betweenit and-the said pencil point, withv theresult that when the pointdescends the leads rare not ycarriedA down .with it. On the contrary thepoint section, in its descent, moves away from the lead and only then isthe latter released-by the clamping means. Thus,

each time the lead is-released it can only drop far enough for its lowerend to meet the bore .35 of the point; in other words, it always 'dropsby a denite amount. If the point section and the clamping device thenreturn to their posi` tions of rest, the lead will project a deilnitedis-l clamping device, which is made like a pin chuck f device 3 alsopartake of the downward movement and so presses the jawsof the chucktogether.

Finally, the pencil according to this invention has the greatadvantage'that upon unscrewing the movable point section, the clampingdevice "am, exposed so thatthis clamping device and the bore of `the.point section can` easily be cleaned when fouled by leaddust, whichmight prevent them from functioning in'a satisfactory manner.

One constructional embodiment of the invention is shown in the,accompanying drawing, in 5 which:

,'Flg. 1y shows the whole `pencil 11n longitudinal section,. y

Fig. 2 is a section on'the line II-II of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a section on the line III--g-IlIof Fig. 1, 104

Fig. 4 is a detail in'elevation and'` Fig. 5 is a section'on the lineV--V ofFig. 4. In the stem l of the pencil the part compris vingtheytube 2,` designed to hold leads. andthe clampingr device v3 whichembraces the lead 15 onall sides is' arranged for` longitudinal moveiment, while the clamping sleeve I is xedly se# cured in the said'stem.`- jA spring 5 serves merely as a closing spring for "the, clampingdevice 3 and ensures retraction of the latter into the 20 clampingsleeve i, thus causing the jaws of the clamping devicel to be pressedtogether so.l that a lead gripped therein 'cannot move longitudirially.The longitudinally"movableI` tube "2 fis surrounded by a l.wider and'likewise longituf' 25 dinally movable tube 6, provided at-its lower endwith two or more ilnger-likehextensionsz6*'(see Figs. 4 and 5)` whichpass through corresponding apertures or channels in the clamping ring 'lv (see Figs. 1 and 2). The point section 8y is at- 30 tached to theseextensions Si, so `that it is inov-v able with the tube 6, and it hasalborey 9", through which the lead passes with friction. A spring 1,yindependent of the clamp closing lspring y5, normally holds the tube 8and consequently the point 35 section 8 in their upper terminalposition. On le upper end of the tube 0 is mounted a cap If the pencil:be held bythe stem I'with the: point 8 pointingl vertically downwards,and if t0 pressurebe then applied to the cap I0,'so that it movesdownwards, against the pressureof the spring 1, the point section 8(with its bore 9), being attached to the tube C, will also be moveddownwards vihlle the tube 2 with the clamping 45 dence a and zh leaddamped therein at met remains at rest. Thus the point is forced offfrom' the writing end of the lead. 'Only after aclearance d (Fig. 1)-'has been takenA up in the descent of the cap I0 will the tube 2, withthe clamping 60 Assuming the downward movement of thecap 55 I to becontinued, the clamping device 3 will now open, because it is pushed outof the clamping sleeve I, and thus it frees a passage for the lead. Alead now feeds out of the tube 2 through the clamping device 3 until itreaches the bore 9, which has also moved further down with the openingof the clamping device 3 and is, therefore, separated from the clampingdevice l by the normal distance plus the clearance d.

If the cap I0 be slowly released, both the clamping device 3 and thebore 9 move towards their positions of rest under the action of thesprings I and 1. 'I'he lead which has fallenfdown as far as the bore 9takes part in this rearward movement up to the moment 4at which theclamping device closes. From this moment the clamping device 3 and thefirmly lclamped lead remain stationary and only the point section 8 withits bore 0 continues its return movement under the action of thespring 1. In doing this the bore 9 pushes On the repetition of the abovedescribed cycle of operations without any alteration of the length ofthe protruding piece of lead pressure on the cap does not 4produce anychange in the position of the lead, this being one feature whichdistinguishes the pencil of the present invention from knownconstructions. Only when the length of lead which projects from the bore8 has been reduced (for instance, by snapping it off or wearing it downby writing) does any advance of the lead take place in response to thedescribed lead adjusting operation. lFurther when an advance of the leaddoes take place it can only be such that,l at the conclusion of the leadadjusting operation, the leadprotrudes by the same amount d from thebore 9.

Variation o f the clearance d may, for instance, be effected by turningthe cap I0 on the screw thread Il, which the tube 6 carries at its upperend. Accidental rotation of the cap I0 can be prevented by anyconvenient means as by a close frictional engagement between the cap andthe tube 8.

what I claim is:

l. A reflllable pencil..comprising a stem, a

' point section longitudinally movable relatively to s said stem andhaving a bore through which passes the lead with friction, a likewisemovable lead clamping device, an adjusting device cooperating with saidpoint section and with the clamping device'so as to move, when operated,first, only lo the point section and thereafter also the clamping devicein the same direction, means movable relatively to and cooperating withthe clamping device so as to make it operative, and spring means toreturn the clamping device and the point l section to their originalposition.

2. A renllable pencil, as claimed in lclaim l, wherein the clampingdevice is arranged in the vicinity of the point section.

3. A reflllable pencil, comprising a stem, a point sectionlongitudinally movable relatively to said stem and having a bore throughwhich passes the lead with friction, a likewise movable leadclampingdevice, a tube carrying said point section, a further tubeconcentrically arranged to the first named tube and 'carrying saidclamping device, a cap-like adjusting member cooperating with both tubesso as to move, when operated, first only the ilrst named tube andthereafter also the last named tube in the same direction, means securedto said stem, cooperating with said clamping device to make itoperative, and spring means to return both tubes to their originalposition.

4. A refillable pencil, comprising a stem, a point sectionVlongitudinally movable relatively to said stem and having a borethrough which passes the lead with friction, a likewise movablelead'clamping device arranged in the vicinity of said point K section,an adjusting device cooperating with the point section and with theclamping device so as 40 to move, when operated, ilrst only the pointsection and thereafter also the clamping device, a sleeve-like membersecured to said stem and embracing said clamping device to actuate thelatter, when being displaced relatively to the same. and spring meanstoreturn the clamping device and the point section in their originalposition.

5. A reilllable pencil as claimed in claim 4, wherein the point sectionand the clamping device are provided with corresponding cam surfacescooperating when being displaced relatively to each other.

STEFAN STEUER.

